


Clung to Me All My Life

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, references death of Addie Kane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 07:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20485355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Dick finds Joey on Mother's Day.





	Clung to Me All My Life

**Author's Note:**

> "I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." ~Abraham Lincoln
> 
> Continuity: Before "The Titans" but following Joey's return in 2008.

When Dick had first heard the news that Joey was back, he'd been ecstatic about it. He'd had every intention to spend time with Joey and to reconnect with his old teammate. 

But life and supervillains had conspired to keep Dick from keeping his vow. Each time he'd finally had some free time to go visit Joey, Dick had found himself being called away on last minute trips to save Tim, to help out Bruce, to babysit Lian, to deal with Jason, to deal with Talia...

Dick was rather embarrassed at just how much time he'd let pass by, even if it couldn't be helped, and even if he was certain that Joey would understand. Just because your friend understood when you let them down didn't give you the right to do it, and Dick was trying not to repeat the mistakes he'd made the year before.

Which is why, when Mother's Day rolled around, and Dick realized exactly where Joey would be on his first Mother's Day back, not a force short of Darkseid himself could have kept Dick from going to his friend's side.

After a short detour to lay flowers at his own mother's grave, of course. 

Dick found Joey exactly where Dick suspected he would be. Dick skipped the formality of asking how long Joey had been at Addie Kane's grave, and didn't pry into how much Joey remembered, because Mother's Day wasn't the time to rehash such things. Instead, he laid a hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "I thought I might find you here."

[Nowhere else I could be] Joey signed back. 

Dick glanced down at her grave and nodded. "I visited my mother's too," he said. And his father's on Father's Day, but that was a sore subject he didn't mention to Joey, out of respect for the terms Slade and Joey were currently on.

Dick wondered what Addie would say if she could see the kind of man her husband had become. Addie had known her husband's faults better than anyone, but Dick was pretty sure not even she could have predicted Bludhaven.

But that wasn't something to dwell on when Dick was supposed to be here for Joey.

[Do you still miss her?] Joey signed. [Your mother?]

"Of course I do," Dick replied. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. And Dad, too."

[I was hoping it would go away] Joey explained. [The hurt, how empty I feel without her here.]

"It gets...it gets better," Dick answered. "It never completely goes away, but the hurt's not as sharp."

[The wound scabs over?] Joey questioned.

"Yes," Dick said with a small smile. "You could definitely say that."

[I don't think I want it to] Joey said with a rapid shake of his head. [I don't want to forget her. She meant too much.]

"It won't be forgetting her," Dick insisted. 

[It would] Joey insisted. His fingers stopped signing and clutched into small fists at his side - clear signs of Wilson stubbornness.

"Joey, I loved my mom," Dick said gently. "And while I think of her everyday, it's not ... I don't set aside time to mourn her everyday. I think of her, and pay tribute to her in my acts. When I'm flying across the sky, I think of her catching me, or when I'm eating my favorite snack, I remember her cooking for us. I knew Addie, and I know she'd be just as happy if you did the same for her as my mom would be for me. Because they loved us, and they'd want us to be happy - not spend our lives in mourning."

Joey glanced down at the grave again. [I will always think of her when I paint. She was always very proud of my art]

"Then maybe that's a better way to honor her on Mother's Day than to spend all day in the cemetery," Dick said softly.

Joey smiled at him. [Maybe it is. You want to come back and be my model?]

Dick chuckled. Joey didn't need a model for his art. "Sure. But if you're expecting any nude modeling, you're going to have to at least buy me lunch."

[I think that can be arranged] Joey promised. 

The smile Joey gave Dick was a small one, but as far as Dick was concerned, they had all day to work on making Joey happier, and Dick was definitely up to the challenge.


End file.
